Hesleden Primary School children speaking up for their communities

Yesterday was perhaps one of the most uplifting days in a long time when a group of pupils from Hesleden Primary School visited county hall in Durham to meet with me, Stacey and Gemma to talk about some of the issues affecting them in their village and the wider community.

We began the afternoon with a tour around county hall, including the council chamber where the children loved talking into the microphones to amplify their voices - with most of them talking a great deal more sense than some of the regulars in county hall!

After that we met in one of the committee rooms to get down to the nitty-gritty of the day where the children spoke about some of the things they would like to see improved in their community. These issues were related mainly to community safety, public health and the environment, with many of them reflecting the priorities of the people we speak to regularly at PACT meetings, residents’ association meetings and our monthly ward surgeries.

Issues ranged from concerns about quads and off-road bikes having access to our public footpaths and open spaces and causing damage to the flora, posing a risk of injury to pedestrians and endangering wildlife, to general environmental concerns about the impact of dog fouling and littering in the streets. However, rather than just talking about the things that concerned them, the children also offered solutions - something that suggests a positivity from the children that they can make our communities better places by identifying issues and working together to put things right.   

After the discussion the children voted on which of those issues were a particular priority for them, and notably what they would like to see happen next to address their concerns. 

Apart from listening to the children talking to us about their issues and priorities, for me the most uplifting aspect of yesterday’s visit was the way the children wanted to engage in solving problems, along with the confidence they had to get their points across. 

I’m sure the parents, carers and staff at Hesleden Primary School know this already but their children are fantastic ambassadors for their school and a real benefit to their communities. They'd clearly taken the time to look around their villages to see what was good - and what needed improvement - and most importantly they made the effort to come and tell us about what they saw as their priorities to make their neighbourhoods safer and stronger. 

Finally, I’ve got to mention the impeccable behaviour of all the children. They were polite, considerate and eloquent in putting their views across - something we can all be proud of as we look to the next generation as custodians of their villages and communities.

I hope the children enjoyed their day as much as I did.

New community safety initiatives in the pipeline

I took the opportunity to meet in Blackhall Community Centre yesterday afternoon with the two Community Safety Coordinators from the office of the Police & Crime Commissioner (PCC) to discuss some of the issues we talk about with residents at the monthly Police And Communities Together (PACT) meetings in Blackhall Colliery, at monthly ward surgeries and at other public-facing events in our communities.

Background details to many of the issues covered at recent PACT meetings can be found in my regular monthly reports elsewhere on this site, but in summary a typical meeting will hear reports from residents about the poor condition of properties in some of the private-rented houses in the numbered streets and off-road bikes and quads in and around our villages, amongst other fairly isolated incidents of anti-social behaviour.

The role of the Community Safety Coordinators is to join up the police and PCC’s response to local reports of crime and anti-social behaviour in our communities, and they’re visiting community centres and meeting with community representatives in targeted villages across the county as a first step towards meeting that objective. These initial calls are intended to be broadened out in future with attendances at monthly PACT meetings and other community-based events.

One of the main issues concerning residents, and one that’s raised at almost every monthly PACT meeting, is the time it takes to get through to the police when they’re called on their non-emergency 101 number. The prevailing opinion seems to be that reporting anti-social behaviour in this way is hardly worth the effort. The coordinators in response told me that the PCC is rolling-out a QR code scheme in which callers scan a QR code to report an incident which then triages the report and sends it direct to the relevant people for their attention. If this works in practice it could be of huge benefit to residents who want to report anti-social behaviour with confidence that their issues will be dealt with quickly and by the right people.

In addition, I raised the concerns of many residents about the impact of off-road bikes and quads using our streets and open spaces as race tracks. Apart from the environmental impact of these machines, residents have real concerns about the safety of pedestrians and other road users. I’ve suggested that the police look at ways to track the overnight storage of off-road bikes which would enable the police to get direct access to the owners. The coordinators suggested that plans were already underway to use drones to track off-road bikes to help the police trace the riders and owners, hopefully something that would allay residents’ fears about the impact of this problem.

I also mentioned to the coordinators that I was working with the local neighbourhood policing team to purchase mobile CCTV cameras that would be helpful in tackling a number of issues in our community, ranging from off-road bikes, anti-social behaviour, fly-tipping and shoplifting in some of our shops.

It was also suggested that the community safety coordinators would work closely with housing companies like Believe Housing and other registered social landlords, along with property owners and landlords in the private-rented sector. Adopting this approach, and particularly working with officers from the council’s Selective Licensing Scheme, could reap significant benefits in tackling crime and anti-social behaviour in our villages, and also act as a catalyst to improve the condition of some of the properties in the sector.

Finally, I suggested that the community safety coordinators could come along to a PACT meeting at some point in the near future to listen first-hand to some of the issues raised by residents. They acknowledge that the PACT format is a great way for residents to raise their concerns directly with the police, neighbourhood wardens and local councillors like me, and they’ve assured me they have plans in place to come along to one of our PACT meetings soon.

In summary, the visit by the community safety coordinators was very well received by everyone at events in the community centre yesterday afternoon, who spent some time chatting about their experiences of life in the village. For my part I welcome any initiative that brings our communities closer to the organisations and agencies they depend on to keep their villages and residents safe. In taking the time to visit us yesterday the PCC’s office, and in particular the two community safety coordinators I met yesterday, have shown that they have a genuine interest in our communities and are keen to work alongside us to achieve together a stronger and safer future for our villages.

I look forward to meeting the coordinators again soon to develop the initiatives we talked about yesterday, and as usual I’ll update on any significant developments.

In the meantime if you have any related issues you would like me to know about please get in touch with me at: rob.crute@durham.gov.uk

Addressing access issues at Crimdon Dene

I was back at Crimdon this morning for a follow-up meeting with the clean and green team. This was arranged after our initial site meeting last week to take a look what could be done to address public concerns about access to the Dene area. Full background details can be found in this link: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2024/06/tackling-illegal-access-issues-at.html?m=1

Along with an officer from the clean and green team a fabricator from the company that installed the barriers and anti-bike gates came along this morning to see which options were available to either modify or replace the gates to prevent illegal access by off-road bikes and quads whilst maintaining access to mobility scooters, horse riders and other legitimate visitors.

The fabricator is confident that a solution can be found - either by replacing the existing boom gate with a bridle gate that would restrict access to bikes and quads but allow horses to step over. It is also proposed to replace the anti-bike gate at the side of the barrier with a modified gate that will still prevent access to bikes but at the same time give open access to pushchairs, mobility scooters and wheelchairs.

The fabricator has been asked to come up with a design that would meet the requirements set out above, and also give an estimated cost of the works to be carried out.

In addition, I’ve asked the fabricator to take a look at how similar access issues at Park Avenue in Blackhall Colliery could be dealt with. He has agreed to visit the site and come back with suggested measures that would restrict vehicular access to the public footpath along the middle of the street and also allay concerns about access for emergency vehicles where access is required by individual services. 

I’ve also written to the North East Ambulance Service in relation to this issue and I’ll update on progress as soon as I have more information from the service.

In the meantime if you have any similar access issues that you would like me to know about please get in touch with me at: rob.crute@durham.gov.uk and I’ll raise any concerns with the relevant authorities for their attention.